Mission Statement
The mission of Saint Anthony Park Area Seniors is to enrich the lives of community seniors and provide assistance in maintaining independence and interdependence through professionals and volunteers providing at-home living assistance, wellness activities, nursing care, and caregiver support.
Modified and approved by the Board of Directors March 11, 2019
Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
In 2022, Saint Anthony Park Area Seniors has nimbly adapted our program to the ongoing pandemic, continuing to sustain and enrich the lives of seniors in our community. During our most recent fiscal year, ending on June 30, 2022, we served 417 people and 142 of them were new to our program.
We have continued delivering the important services and activities seniors need to remain a healthy independent vital part of our community. During the past fiscal year, we kept seniors active with loans of iPads and internet hot spots, used Zoom technology to connect 57 participants to Tai Ji Quan:Moving for Better Balance and chair yoga exercise classes, offered 60 people concerts and bi-weekly “Lunch Bunch” gatherings, engaged 8 people to poetry classes by volunteers, continued Older Adult Resource Series presentations for 101 people, and facilitated our original “My Memories” documentation activity for 21 people. We are carefully emerging from the pandemic and recently completed our first in-person indoor group activity since the beginning of the pandemic, an eight-week paper collage art class for 12 participants. We continued to offer blood pressure clinics at one local senior residence.
We have also kept up essential services. At the end of our most recent fiscal year, with continued appropriate COVID-19 precautions, our volunteers transported 24 seniors 89 times to medical appointments and delivered 1408 Meals-on-Wheels to seniors; our handyman independent contractor and several volunteers provided 233 hours of home repairs and household chores, and independent registered nurses delivered 129 in-home foot care services.
Current Goals
As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, many of our programmatic goals include returning to more in-person group activities. In August, we will again offer “Walk with Ease”, an in-person outdoor activity promoting senior mobility. We are currently training a group of volunteers and staff to operate the audio-visual equipment in the sanctuary of the church where we rent space so that we can effectively offer hybrid activities (in-person participants and others participating virtually) such as presentations, concerts, and possibly exercise classes.
We also plan to build on our current offerings in meaningful ways. We expect to expand our blood pressure clinics to other senior residential buildings, which will improve the health of seniors in our area as well as increase our program’s visibility. The interest and enthusiasm for our recent art class proved to us that our focus on arts offerings will be important in the coming year. A presentation that has been requested is on personal safety. We have connected with the St. Paul Police department and they are ready to provide that class when we are ready to offer it in our new hybrid format. In the fall, in partnership with the Lauderdale City administration and the Falcon Heights/Lauderdale Lions Club, we will be offering an outdoor music concert at a large community park in Lauderdale. An important endeavor for the coming year will be revamping the caregiver support group services that we offer in order to reach more people, perhaps in more ways.
Community or Constituency Served
We serve seniors who are 60 years or older. We also serve caregivers of seniors.
Geographic Area Served
We serve seniors who are 60 years or older and live in our service area of the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Lauderdale and Falcon Heights west of Cleveland Avenue. We also serve caregivers of seniors. Either the senior or caregiver need to live in our service area.
